LITTLE LOVABLE LUCY, YOU'RE SO BIG!

A puppy proves she is big enough to learn new skills.

Gentle in spirit and smartly crafted, the second entry in Roth and Penn’s picture-book series about puppy Lucy (Little Lovable Lucy’s Big Day, 2022) brings fresh challenges for its canine heroine. Here, the authors’ simple narrative in Lucy’s voice highlights the pup’s various emotions (hesitancy, excitement, pride) as she learns new, big-girl skills such as walking on a leash, “sit” and “stay,” and climbing stairs. Throughout, Lucy’s human adult and sibling caretakers model positive parental reinforcement, including “Good effort, Lucy. Try again,” and “I knew you could do it!” The book’s clear, repetitive text offers good practice for beginning readers and encouragement for pre-readers to follow along: “Some days I walk with Mommy. Some days I walk with Daddy. Some days I walk with Mommy and Daddy.” Hernandez’s detailed, dynamic digital art adds visual appeal in double-panel and single-panel illustrations, some filling the page, others small, colorful vignettes against white space. Among them are pictures showing Lucy’s bouncy progress through a park; her triumphant ascent of the stairs, one step at a time; and her diverse, happy human family (a White mom, a dad who is Black, their children (a mix of both), and friends and neighbors of different races and ethnicities). Readers who are charmed by Lucy’s growing-up adventures but ready for chapter books will find a similar experience in author Jeanne Bender’s travel-themed, five-part Lindie Lou Adventureseries about a well-loved—and also floppy-eared—puppy.

A sweet treat in words and pictures for young pet lovers and beginning readers.